


A Royal Conspiracy

by jihyuncompass



Series: Jihyun Week 2020 [1]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Jihyun Week 2020, Mentions of Death, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Royalty AU, V is the king, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27815794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jihyuncompass/pseuds/jihyuncompass
Summary: You receive a mysterious letter summoning you to the castle. The only problem is, the person who sent it has been dead for over a year.Written for Day One of Jihyun Week 2020
Relationships: V | Kim Jihyun & Main Character, V | Kim Jihyun/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Jihyun Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035321
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	A Royal Conspiracy

**Author's Note:**

> This was written to expand upon a set of headcanons I wrote on tumblr back in July. This fic was definitely out of my comfort zone but I hope ya'll enjoy it!

The letter arrived on a warm summer’s day. It arrived in a beautiful envelope closed with the brightly colored wax seal of the King. You turned the letter over in your hands multiple times. As if trying to determine its authenticity. After a moment you gently tore open the letter to read the contents of the letter. 

At the Royal Request of Queen Rika you have been officially summoned to the Palace to meet with her royal highnesses. 

Reading the letter over and over you couldn’t believe what you were reading. You wondered if this letter could possibly be real, but looking at the seal, at the stationary, at the signature. There was almost no doubt in your mind that this had to have come from the palace. There was only one problem with the letter. 

Queen Rika had been dead for over a year. 

Holding the letter in your hand you slowly approached the palace. You’d travelled for hours to finally arrive at the palace only days after receiving the original letter. The palace in front of you was large and intimidating. You swallowed the lump in your throat and took a bold step forward. 

A guard stopped you where you promptly presented the letter. Making particular care to show off the official wax seal on the envelope. The guards let them through into the palace guiding them to where they could meet with one of the King’s advisor’s first. Waiting patiently they clutched the letter in their hands. Their knees bounced under the table. 

Head royal advisor Jumin Han and secondary royal advisor Jaehee Kang entered the room. Both dressed elegantly and professionally. They sat across from them, Jumin’s eyes analyzing every detail, and based on the way he looked at them he wasn’t very impressed. 

“We were informed by one of the guards that you received a letter summoning you to the palace?” Jaehee Kang asked. You slid the letter across the table, Jumin delicately picked it up. His fingers ran over the wax seal, and then read over the contents of the letter. Jumin’s brow furrowed. 

“Strange.” Jumin muttered. 

“That’s, that is the royal seal, and the official stationary.” Jaehee whispered. They were silent before Jumin finished the thought. 

“However, it’s impossible that this was sent by the Queen. She departed from this world over a year ago now.” Jumin explained. 

You sat up straighter. “Then who sent me this?”

“That’s a good question.” Jumin said. “This must have been sent from the palace if they used the official seal.” Jumin stood up from his seat, still holding the letter in his hand. “I must speak urgently with the King about this. Until then, then you will need to stay here.” You nodded, quickly watching the two advisors leave the room. Jaehee giving you a quick look before the door shut behind her. 

Within the next two hours you were moved into a different room, a much larger, much grander room. Where you were met with the two royal advisors again, a young knight, and a strange young man with bright red hair. They all sat around the table, looking at you with looks of confusion and guarded hesitation. 

The room was silent until the final person entered the room. His entrance caused the whole room to stand and bow in respect. You were struck silent as you locked eyes with the King. 

You weren’t sure what you’d expected from him. You had expected him to have this intimidating presence, one that oozed power and control. The king standing in front of you however was not like this. He glanced at you with kind, warm eyes. He almost didn’t look like a King, he seemed like anyone else in the world.

“My name is V.” The King said. “May I ask your name?” 

“MC, your highness.” You bowed a little more. V gave you a gentle smile and motioned for you to sit. Taking his order you sat back down in your chair. Rubbing your hands together anxiously out of sight under the table. 

Jumin set the letter in front of the King. “They received this letter, supposedly from the palace.” V picked up the letter, reading it over multiple times. His face was hard to read, but based on his silence you could assume he also was confused by the letter. 

“Rika.” V whispered. “She sent this?” 

“How is that possible?” Jumin asked first. “Considering her death-”

“Her disappearance.” A young blonde knight interrupted. Jumin looked over at the boy, giving him a stern but sympathetic look. 

“Yes. Considering Queen Rika’s disappearance was over a year ago now it doesn’t seem possible that she could have sent this letter.” Jumin finished. The young blonde Knight was looking down at his feet. 

“Maybe she’s still alive?” The same blonde Knight asked. Jaehee shook her head, glancing at the letter still in the King’s hands. 

“It’s far more likely Yoosung, that someone within the palace sent this. Even if her highness was still alive, how would she have access to the royal seal?” The knight, Yoosung looked back down. Just by looking at him you could see something was going through his head. Though you didn’t know what it could be. 

You cleared your throat to gain the courage to speak. “But, regardless of who sent it. Why me?” The question left the room silent. 

“That’s a good question.” The redhead said. He hadn’t spoken much in the meeting but now he was watching you intently. “You don’t have any connections with anyone in the royal court? In this Kingdom or another?” You shook your head. 

“I’m just an ordinary person.” 

“Whatever the reason.” V said, finally tearing his eyes away from the letter. “I want to take this as some kind of sign.” You attempted to not let your confusion show on your face, but before you could try, Jumin had already taken the words out of your mouth. 

“What kind of sign?” The King looked up and into your eyes. 

“Perhaps you were chosen for something we don’t understand quite yet.” The room seemed unsure of the King’s answer. “I think, until we are sure of the reason why you were brought here, and who it was who sent the letter, you should stay here in the palace.” 

A plan was concocted from that point, you were asked to go under a different identity, masking yourself as a member of the nobility from another kingdom. The backstory given to you was that you had been sent here for a possible political marriage for the King, to bring good relations between two kingdoms. Arriving with you was your most trusted Knight, Seven. Who in reality, was the redheaded boy you learned was a spy by the name of Luciel. And until the purpose and sender of the letter was discovered, you were to stay in the palace, acting in this role. 

Sitting in your newly appointed chambers you thought back to your meeting with the King. He hadn’t spoken much, but he also was the one who suggested that you stay here in the palace. However, the thing that kept getting to you was the comment Yoosung had made. Supposedly the Queen had died of some kind of tragedy over a year ago, however based on the comment made it sounds like the Queen just disappeared and is believed to be dead. 

You thought for a while when a knock broke you out of your thoughts. Brushing yourself off you walked towards the door. Most likely it was Luciel again, to check up on you and make sure everything is clear and you know what you’re doing. 

What you did not expect was for the King to be on the other side. 

“Your highness.” You bowed to him, he looked a bit sheepish but accepted the bow. “How may I help you?” He looked around the corridor before turning back to you. 

“If it’s alright, may I come inside?” You tried not to stutter but you made room for V to enter the room. It was strange watching him, you knew that he was the King, he should have this intimidating atmosphere. Yet being near him you didn’t feel intimidating, he almost didn’t feel like a King. He sat down at the small table in the corner of the room and motioned for you to sit across from him. 

You kept your hands folded in your lap. “Is there something you wanted to discuss with your majesty?” You asked him.

“Please,” He started. “In private please call me V.” You swallowed the lump in your throat and nodded. 

“Alright. V.” You said slowly. The words felt strange coming from you, but he seemed to visibly relax when you called him his name. 

He cleared his throat. “I wanted to speak with you privately, I understand this whole situation must be very stressful for you.” You shrugged. “However, I hope you understand how strange this situation is. All we want is to know who sent you here, and for what reason.” You nodded, the King, no V seemed gentle, but the longer you looked at his face the sadness that seemed to be etched there seemed more pronounced. 

“Thank you for your concern, and I really don’t mind. This situation is rather… concerning.” You said. Looking at him again, you tried to take in the little details in his face. The things you hadn’t noticed before. “And, I’m sorry about the Queen. It’s truly a tragedy what happened.” The king looked down at his feet, looking at him from this angle you thought you could see something. Like a small scar just above his eyelids. Matching ones on each eye. 

You didn’t get a good look before he sat up straight again. “Thank you, it’s. It’s still difficult but I appreciate your words.” He smiled, a small pained smile. “And I hope you know that I want you to be as comfortable as possible here. So if there’s anything that can be done to help you feel comfortable. Please let me or my advisors know alright?” 

“Yes. I will thank you.” You smiled back. The two of you locked eyes, staring at each other in silence for quite a while. Until V finally broke the silence between the two of you. 

“I have no doubt that this double life you will have to lead will be difficult. But I promise I will be there to support you and help in any way possible.” Even though you didn’t know him well you could tell he was being honest with you. You gave him a genuine smile. Feeling just the littlest bit assured. 

The next few weeks went by quickly, days were spent walking around the palace grounds. Anytime you left your chambers Luciel would follow you around, pretending to be your knight. In that time you had time to get to know him well. He told you about how the King and Queen had saved his life by giving him his job, and how he owes his life to them. 

You also grew closer with the rest of the royal court. You learned more about the two royal advisors, how Jumin and V had grown up together and had an unbreakable trust between them. With time you learned that Queen Rika was the young knight Yoosung’s cousin. Who he was supposedly very close with. Then, how much her disappearance had affected him. You had also met the King’s favorite bard, a handsome young man named Zen, who always spoke to you kindly and sang the most beautiful songs. 

During this time you grew close with the King as well. The two of you were often expected to stay close to one another, you shared meals together and spent many of your evenings in conversation with him. 

However, despite this you still found him distant towards you. Not that he was cruel, far from it. He treated you with the utmost care and attention, but he rarely talked about himself. Most of the conversations were spent with him asking you questions and avoiding answering when you asked him the same ones. At a point, you tried to be careful, wanting to respect his privacy, worried that you’d offended him. Even if he would never say if you ever did. 

By this point a couple of months had passed since the original arrival of the letter. You’d grown fairly accustomed to your life in the palace. However questions still gnawed at you. No matter how much you tried to push it aside, that thing Yoosung had said on your first day still stuck with you. 

This evening you sat alone with V in his chambers. Sharing cups of tea, and discussing whatever came to mind. You had waited until he seemed comfortable to ask your question. 

“V. can I ask you something?” He looked up at you, he seemed confused, but also curious. 

“Yes, of course. What’s on your mind?” You looked down at your hands, shooting a glance upwards your eyes found themselves back on the two matching scars on his eyelids. So subtle you usually hardly noticed them unless you were looking. 

“What happened to your eyes?” You asked. V stopped, he was silent for a moment, before collecting himself to speak. 

“My eyes are fine, why do you ask?” Hearing his words you couldn’t believe him. You had spent too much time with him, paid enough attention to know that there had to be something going on with his vision. 

Gathering your courage you pressed further. “V, I know there’s something wrong with them. You’re always squinting and have a hard time reading things. I saw how you had Jumin read out that document at the banquet the other night.” He looked at you, his expression was guarded, almost fearful. “And. I can see the marks on your eyelids, they look like scars.” V inhaled sharply. He stayed quiet though, seemingly trying to piece his thoughts together into an answer. 

“I got in a bit of an accident a while back, my eyes are okay.” 

“Can you see very well?” 

“My vision has been impacted somewhat-” He sighed. “I’ll be fine. I appreciate your concern but I promise you. My eyes are okay now.” You nodded, despite his assurances there still lived some doubt, but you didn’t want to push him too much. Even if you had grown closer in the weeks since you arrived at the palace you didn’t feel comfortable yet pushing him like that. However, a small comment couldn’t hurt. 

“V. I know you haven’t known me as long as Jumin, or the others but you don’t have to hide things from me. I trust you, and I’m not going to betray your trust.” V glanced up at you. Looking at you with his hazy eyes you saw his hand take your’s which was resting on the table. 

Thank you, I still don’t feel that I am deserving of your kindness but, your words are very thoughtful.” You stared at each other until V looked back down, the tips of his ears turning red. He held onto your hand for a while longer, seeming to savor the contact. “I should let you go now, it’s starting to get late. Be safe tonight.” He let go of your hand, though you could see the resistance in his face. 

“You too. Have a good night.” You slowly left the room. Walking back to your chambers, covertly cradling the hand V had been holding. Unable to forget the feeling of him holding onto your hand, the smallest of smiles on your face accompanied by the rapid beating of your heart. 

On the 6th week of your time in the royal court you found a letter on your bed. This one, using the same stationary, and the same wax seal as the first one. Your heart raced in your chest as you gingerly lifted the envelope. 

Opening the wax seal you pulled out a card. 

The King is a Liar. 

Your eyes read over the card over and over again. By the look of the handwriting, it looked to be the same handwriting as the first letter you’d originally received. You read the card over multiple times, your heart felt like it was in your throat. 

Multiple things went through your mind. First, in order for the letter to be here that must mean that whoever originally sent the letter must know who you are, and know where in the castle you’re staying. In the six weeks you’d been staying in the castle, your identity and your role had been left very private as a way to keep yourself safe. This stranger however, seemed to know. The other thought and the one that seemed to sink the deepest into your soul. What exactly did the message mean? What was V lying about? 

You kept the letter in your pocket during dinner that night. You sat next between V on your right and Jaehee on your right. You listened to Zen as he performed tonight’s ballads. In your time you had really grown to enjoy the sound of his performances. 

Glancing over to V he seemed to be entertained by the music. Once V had told you about how he met Zen when he was a younger man, how Queen Rika had heard him performing on the streets and asked him to perform for the palace. That story was one of the many where the longing in V’s expression became more prominent. 

The letter felt like it was burning a hole in your pocket, you wanted to ask V about it, try and get some kind of information out of him, but you would need to pull him aside in order to talk to him. 

You weren’t angry with him, not by any means, but you also were more than aware you needed some answers. There still seemed to be so many things about this situation you didn’t know. And you weren’t about to make yourself a pawn in someone else’s game. 

You waited until the end of the meal to ask to speak to him. He seemed a bit confused, but agreed with your request. You walked down to his chambers where the two of you would have the chance to talk. 

“Is everything alright? You seem a bit off today.” V asked. Looking at him there was genuine concern in his eyes. Looking at him you hesitated, but the weight of the letter in your pocket reminded you of what you needed to do. 

“V.” You took a breath. “I need you to tell me the truth.” 

His head cocked to the side. “The truth about what?” 

“What really happened to Queen Rika?” He seemed confused still. You pulled the letter from your pocket and handed it to him. He took the letter from your hand, reading the card. Holding the card you saw how his hands were shaking. 

“I never lied to you.” V said, looking up. “I swear, I-” He looked down at the letter. 

You pressed your lips together but pushed. “What happened to her the night she disappeared?” He set the letter down on the table, swallowing thickly. 

“Rika, was such a beautiful person.” He started. “And I loved her, so much but-” He cleared his throat. Even speaking on this he seemed to be struggling to continue, however he carried on. “We had gotten into an argument, we fought for hours and hours and then she.” He shook his head, tears were in his eyes now, threatening to fall down his cheeks. He reached up and touched the scars on his eyelids “She left. And I haven’t seen her since.” You watched his hands over his eyes. A realization starting to dawn on you. 

“Did. Did Rika hurt your eyes?” You stepped forward towards him, he’d said it was an accident, but the longer he stood there. Hands covering his scars, you felt that couldn’t possibly be the case. 

“It was my fault,” He said. “If I had listened to her more, if I had cared for her more, if I-” 

“Did Rika do that to you?” You asked again. V moved his hands away from his face, his increasingly unfocused blue eyes directed at you. 

“Yes.” 

Without another thought you raced forward and embraced him. Pressing your face into his chest. He quietly gasped, looking down at you. He didn’t know what to say, or even how to react. Just a moment ago he thought you were furious with him, ready to leave this castle, ready to blame him for not telling you everything. Yet here you stood, embracing him.

“It isn’t your fault.” You said, muffled. “I don’t know what exactly happened, and I don’t know the Queen but. You didn’t deserve to be hurt like that.” V still stood still, processing everything you were saying. “I’m sure you loved her the best way you could, if you treated her like you treat me, or anyone else. I’m sure she was extremely loved.” You heard a sniffle from above you and pulling back you saw V, with tears falling and his whole body shaking. 

“I-I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “You’re so kind, and I-” 

“V, you don’t have to say you’re sorry. I shouldn’t have upset you. I apologize. Maybe, maybe I should go back to my chambers.” You stepped back but V stepped forward. 

“Please stay.” He begged. “I don’t want you to go.” Slowly you took his hand, leading him to sit down. Sitting next to him he didn’t let go of your hand, almost needing it to keep himself grounded. 

You spent several moments in silence, letting him calm himself down. It admittedly felt strange, seeing the King look so tired, so emotional but you held tight to his hand and comforted him nonetheless. More than being the King, he was someone you cared for. 

After a while he took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. 

“You know, I don’t think anyone has truly comforted me before.” You looked at him. “You, you’re something so special. I don’t know why you were brought here, but I can’t deny how grateful I am for you.” You smiled at him. 

“I’m glad I’ve gotten to meet you.” You said, the two of you locked eyes, and despite the damage done, he was still looking right into your eyes. Anxiously V lifted a hand to touch your cheek, leaning in to press his lips gently against yours. Shutting your eyes you pressed against him, still holding tight to his other hand. A warm, happy fluttery feeling in your chest, and a desire for this moment to never end. 

On the last day of your eleventh week in the castle you had spent most of the evening with V, by this point this had become a common occurrence. The fake interest you had originally had to show to each other publicly became genuine and earnest. You laid with him on the plush lounge chair in his chambers. You laid with your head resting on his chest, V reading out loud to you. 

“You look tired.” V said, his arm around your shoulder raising up to play with your hair. “Perhaps it’s time for us to say goodnight.” 

“We’re almost finished with the book.” You said, V laughed and kissed your forehead. 

“The book will be here tomorrow, and you need your rest.” Knowing he was right you slowly lifted yourself up to sit. V following suit. You leaned back to kiss him, holding him close for only a brief second. 

“Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He smiled and whispered to you. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, my love.” 

The walk back to your chambers was quiet, by this point your “knight” was probably asleep but after receiving the letter you had been moved to a different room to be closer to V where it would be easier to keep you safe. 

Shutting your door behind you there was a sound of shuffling. And turning around you froze in your place at the sight of a stranger.

Bright green eyes, unnatural hair, and an official royal wax sealed letter between his fingers.


End file.
